January troop movement ‘routine’: Antony

New Delhi: Terming the recent reports on "troop movement" towards Delhi as a "routine training exercise", Defence Minister AK Antony on Monday said no action has been taken in the episode to fix responsibility.

"The recent troop movements towards the National Capital Region (NCR) were routine training exercises. Hence, no action was taken to fix responsibility," he told the Lok Sabha in written reply to a question.

In the Rajya Sabha last week on the same issue, he had given details of the units and formations which had participated in the winter exercise by troops to practise mounting during heavy fog.

Terming the Indian Army as a professional organization which maintains a high degree of preparedness against internal and external threats, Antony said "training is the bedrock of maintaining this operational preparedness".

He added an exercise of such nature do no require formal notifications.

"Mobilization forms an important facet of training and is considered a critical performance parameter. These are carried out in a routine manner by various formations/units and do not require any formal notification," he said, adding exercises of large formations are notified to the Army Headquarters by concerned formations.

Exercises close to the borders are notified to concerned agencies/neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, as per existing agreement, he said.

According to a recent newspaper report, the central intelligence agencies had reported that on the night of January 16, there was an unexpected and non-notified movement by key military units around Delhi in the direction of the national capital.